To Write a Silent Song
by Kila9Nishika
Summary: Who of those Harry thought could be trusted are truly on Harry's side? HHr, RLNT, GWOFC, NLSB more...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **As I am a simple person who does not own tons and tons of money, I must admit to being a plain American girl, and not JK Rowling. Therefore, I do not own Harry Potter and the connected involved characters. Oh, well...

**Canon until post-Ootp. Then my imagination takes over!**

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**Vulgivagus – Wandering**

"BOY!"

Harry jerked from the floor with a start, sending two books flying across the rom. Rubbing a crick in his neck, he looked around blearily. He had never taken off his glasses last night, had he? Because… the memory escaped him. He stood, raking his hand through his unruly black hair. Striding from the corner next to his bed, he picked up the books scattered throughout the room.

Memory struck, erasing the remnants of sleep. He had been looking something up, something about reading minds because – he remembered!

Harry rubbed his scar. He had been trying to find a way to shield his mind from whatever it was that Voldemort had done to him. From Legilimency. On his own. And ignore the hunger like a stone in his stomach from no dinner, lunch, breakfast, dinner, or lunch. He had finished off his remaining candy from the train two days ago, and –

"BOY! IF YOU DON'T COME DOWN THIS INSTANT –"

Harry shoved his books under his bed, and stumbled downstairs. He had discovered a few things in the books to apply to controlling his magic, and was going to apply them till it killed him. There would be no magic _this_ summer. He was going to have a clean, slave-like existence, and not get attacked in any way by the Ministry or Lord Voldemort. He was not going to do any magic, not one bit, and he was going to avoid seeing a single Auror, if he could help it. Come autumn, he'd deal with everything –

The kitchen twisted dizzily in front of Harry's eyes, and he pushed himself away from thinking anything. If he cooked breakfast fast enough, he _might_ get some.

He didn't.

The days shifted by, slowly or quickly, Harry couldn't tell. He got an owl from Ron asking when he was coming to the Burrow, and an owl from Hermione with a long letter. While Harry read Ron's letter swiftly, he stuffed Hermione's letter into his pocket, unread. He would read it later, when he was lonely and tired.

After another full day without food, Harry opened his letter, leaning his head against his bed while he sat on the floor.

Dear Harry,

How have you been? I've been tapping my toes, I know that I have to stay with my parents for at least a little while this break, but I can't wait to go to the Burrow and see you. And then go to Grimmauld Place, I expect. I miss you so much, have you done your homework? Don't you dare roll your eyes! (Harry didn't dare.) I haven't heard much from Dumbledore, or anyone else from the Order, but I got a letter from Professor Lupin informing me that I would go first to Grimmauld Place, then the Burrow, then Grimmauld Place again. It made me wonder, I was under the impression that, with Sirius' death, you would have inherited, taking it from the possession of the Order until further notice, right? Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought Sirius had written a will bequeathing you everything?

Other news – Ron is driving me mad. Lately he has been making me wonder a few very important things, like whether Ginny can teach me her new and improved Bat-Bogey Hex. The tone of his letters is enough to make me gag.

Ginny says hello, and wishes for me to send along "Love and Dungbombs from Gred and Forge." The wonderful idiots!

Something is bothering Professor Lupin, I think, but I haven't really seen him since school ended, so that is not much, considering I don't know the whys and wherefores.

How are you, Harry? I'll be sending your birthday present tomorrow, along with another letter and a card. Much as I'd like you to work on your homework, though, don't work too hard on it. Stay alive till I can see you next, and don't go baiting the Ministry or You-Know-Who Voldemort.

Missing my very best friend,

Hermione Jeanne Elisabette Granger

Harry fell asleep holding the letter, tears glinting on his cheeks.

Days slid by in hazy detail. No food, although water from the bathroom tap tasted sweeter than sweet, at this point. Harry, while printing copies of letters for Uncle Vernon, shot off what little steam he had typing a letter to Ron and a letter to Hermione. He passed out as soon as he had given Hermione's letter to Hedwig.

The beating was worth it.

A day – or an hour – or a week later – Harry was losing track, with no food to help him focus – he received another letter from Hermione, taken from a dead owl.

Without a drop of energy to leave his room, he pulled out a quill, ink, and some paper…

The world was spinning, the words on the page dancing –

Had he written to Hermione yet? He pulled out paper, a quill, and some ink –

The page faded before his eyes, he felt Hedwig land beside him, his sight faded to black.

_It was an Order of the Phoenix meeting, but the only face Harry could see clearly was Dumbledore. The voices were alternately clear and clamorous, but some things he understood – _

"– _We need more, Albus, he won't notice the loss –" _

"– _It isn't right, Molly, I think –"_

"– _Yes, well, we are all quite aware of what _you_ think, Remus!"_

– _Remus's face, blank in that way that it only ever was when he was pretending to acquiesce when he was actually thoroughly upset – _

"– _He's right, though! If you would look past –"_

"_Nymphadora Tonks!"_

"_I'm older than Sirius, Remus, Lily, and James were when they joined! Not to mention you and Arthur! I have a right to my own opinion! Harry –"_

"– _That is enough."_

_All of the faces blurred together, until only Remus and Tonks were left, watching each other warily. Tonks leaned her head on Remus's shoulder and Remus spoke tiredly – _

"_Harry, are you alright?"_

_Their faces blurred together, and for a moment, Harry thought he saw tears on their faces. The dream turned into grey mist, stabbed with red knives…_

**Memor – Recording**

Remus was pacing.

It wasn't as if he didn't do that often. Sirius had always laughed, and said that Remus in a mood would wear holes into stone floors. Then James would look up from his punishment essays, which were months overdue, and ask him grouchily to stop pacing before Sirius tackled him. Then Sirius would tackle him, effectively ending the pacing.

But there was no one to end his pacing now. He could wear a circle right through the floor of Grimmauld Place and –

That wasn't fair. Tonks would care, and so would Harry, when he came, and a good deal of the younger generation. Frowning, he cast a swift locking spell on the door of his room, and three strong silencing and anti-scrying spells.

Remus walked over to a carefully hidden closet, and pulled the secret catch, freeing a free-floating quill and pile of bound notes. He began to think aloud, starting with the date, July ninth…

"… and I haven't heard from Harry for a while now, and I was certain I sent him two letters, one soon after we all arrived, the other two days later. He hasn't responded, and I am worried.

"He is so much like James and Lily; it breaks my heart, sometimes. Then he jumps up and surprises me by doing something the way Sirius would have, or the way I would. I love him like a son, but cannot adopt him, all because of the restricting Lycanthropy laws at the Ministry. How much pain can one group of laws cause?

"Something has been bothering me, something about Dumbledore. He has always said he was looking out for Harry, but paying Molly and Arthur out of James and Lily's money? For certain, it does not belong to Harry yet, but no more does it belong to Dumbledore.

"And the attack at the Ministry this year – Dumbledore _knew_. He _knew_, and only worried about his flawed plans. Sirius _died_!"

Remus stopped his pacing, and dropped into a chair, his head in his hands. "Oh god…" he mumbled to himself. "Sirius…"

To his extreme surprise, two slim arms came down around him to hug him gently. He sat up straight and whirled, to find himself face-to-face with the most recent and favorite face of Nymphadora Tonks.

"How..."

"…Did I get in? You've been keying your wards to me lately for some reason, and your Silencing Spell leaves a bit to be desired." Tonks drew Remus to his feet, careful to keep her hands on his and nowhere else. Her today-green eyes began to drown in Remus' deep chocolate eyes.

Remus shook his head, a bit of terror in those fascinating eyes. "How much did you hear?"

Tonks wiped a tear away with her shoulder. "Since you mentioned loving Harry like a son. By the by, what _is_ going on? The entire truth, I've been worried about you." The moment those words left her mouth, Tonks mentally whacked herself. Do I have to be clumsy _vocally_ as well as physically? She attacked herself.

Remus had pulled away, and was now standing his annoyingly proper three feet from her. "If I tell you," he whispered, "you will either have to prove you will leave the Order behind, or I will Obliviate you, so I need not harm you." Tears stood in his eyes. Those fascinating, chocolate-with-flecks-of-amber eyes. No, don't think about that!

Tonk moved swiftly across the room, for once not tripping over anything. She caught up Remus' hands in hers – tried not to pay attention to how beautiful his hands were – and pleaded.

"What do I have to say?" she asked, "What do I have to swear? Anything, I'll leave the Order, I –"

A muffled sound from the doorway interrupted Tonks and Remus, sending them both whirling to face the door.

Standing in the doorway, wand gripped so tightly in her hand that her knuckles were white, her hair practically crackling with anger, was Hermione Jeanne Elisabette Granger.

**Crines – Locks**

Tonks returned her wand to the holster in her sleeve, and Remus had to practically chew on his lips to keep himself from gaping. Neither of them had _ever_ seen Hermione like this. She looked as if she had been forced to watch someone kill, and then let the murderer free.

"Hermione?" Tonks took Hermione's elbow and tugged her into the room, while Remus shut and locked the door.

"DAMN!"

The word exploded from Hermione's mouth, leaving Tonks gaping at her for a moment. Hermione Granger – _cursed!_ Had Hermione Granger actually let a curse fly from her mouth? _Never_ –

"There is something wrong," Hermione began to rant, unconsciously following Remus' pacing path through the room. "I didn't want to believe it, but there is something badly wrong and it has something to do with Harry."

She began to talk the way that she once had, when she was smaller, so swiftly that the listener needs help to follow her words.

"Ever since Dumbledore took so long to come, I mean _Dumbledore,_ he had to have known where we were going, what we were doing, but he didn't do _anything_ until it was too late, and if someone had just stopped Sirius, all Dumbledore would have had to do was stop him, Dumbledore is powerful, he could have kept Sirius here until Harry and the rest of us were safe! And then, when I was looking up registrars, I saw that the Evans may not have any blood relations that are alive besides the Dursleys, but you don't _need_ that for a blood protection ward, the Potters are related to the Blacks in four ways since the last Goblin War, and once since 1943. That's close enough, Harry taught us about wards in the DA, you just need a third cousin three times removed, at closest, so why was Harry stuck someplace so horrible? And what is with his school life, I mean, it reads like a storybook, each year the protagonist and antagonist getting stronger, seemingly unconnected coincidences causing endless amounts of pain, and the only things connecting them being Harry, Dumbledore, and – and V-V-Voldemort.

"And all this time Dumbledore knew! He knew where the Philosopher's Stone was, but the protections were so weak, any of the students could have gotten through! Not to mention that any teacher should be able to notice someone cursing a broom _right next to them_. But he did nothing! And when Dumbledore knew that it was a basilisk attacking people, he did nothing! Again! Didn't warn people, just let Harry and me and Ron and Professor McGonagall take care of it all! Third year, he had to have known that Sirius was innocent, otherwise why was he so quick to let us all off? But then it was all left to get muddled up, when it could have been salvaged! Fourth year, Dumbledore could and should have called a draw for the TriWizard Tournament, there only being allowed _three_ wizards in the tournament, hence the name! But no, all the mess and losing his "best friend" over something so petty and then Cedric Diggory _died_ and Dumbledore again did nothing until Harry was almost killed by Barty Crouch Jr.!

"And then this year, it was as if Dumbledore was deliberately twisting Harry's mind, I mean, giving Snape the chance to dig in Harry's mind? His mind was opened all the wider for V-Voldemort, because of that! The press attacks him, and Dumbledore does less than nothing. I _know_ the dirt that could have been dug up about those who were accusing Harry, but no one did anything! And any person with half a brain who – who – who knew Sirius would know that he _hates_ being stuck in one place, and that any chance he gets to fight, he'll fight, as well as the fact that if Harry is attacked, Sirius would forever and always come charging after him! And now these letters, I sent him a couple over the summer and he sounds less _there_ with each one! _Why_ am I the _only_ one who sees it?"

Remus and Tonks both gaped at the shaking, furious girl. Remus swallowed fear. What had happened?

**Verum – Truths**

Trembling, Hermione allowed Tonks to lead her to a chair, and dropped into it with just as much force as Remus had a few moments before.

"It doesn't make _sense!_" Hermione yanked a bundle of parchment and paper from her pocket, and jabbed the pile into Tonks' face. "Read these! Some are copies of my own letters, but the rest are Harry's replies, and frankly I just don't know –"

Remus took the letters, and began to read swiftly. The first letters seemed rather ordinary, but the last few were less and less like the type of thing Harry would write, and more and more the type of thing that an automaton would write. The last two letters Harry wrote worried him the most. The first read –

Dear Hermione,

I am fine, and will see you when I come to Grimmauld Place.

Harry

The second letter was more alarming, containing barely two sentences.

**D**e_a_**r H**ermio**ne**,

I **s**we**ar I** won**'t u**se magic

**I **mi**s**s **y**

Remus stared at the letters for a long moment, and then looked up at Hermione and Tonks.

"Hermione," he began, "Have you ever heard of a Wall of Pain?"

Hermione jerked out of her seat, knocking Tonks aside.

"It's real?" she gasped, staggering. "But… never mind, if Harry is trapped by a Wall of Pain…"

Remus shook his head. "That wasn't exactly where I was going, Hermione, but good deduction. N-Tonks, do you know where the Welsh Potter Manor is?"

Tonks gaped at him. "Yes, but what –"

Remus shook his head. "Take the Knight bus. I'll be there in a couple of hours. You tell anyone, and it could cause Harry's death. Understood?"

Hermione nodded briskly, and ran out of the room, presumably to fetch her trunks. Tonks grabbed Remus' hand before he could move away, and held it, briefly.

"I swear." She whispered, but Remus heard. Stumbling over her feet, Tonks cracked her head on the wall, and left the bedroom.

After placing everything into his trunk and grasping the battered old handle, Remus Lupin took a swift look around the room before Apparating to the backyard of Number Thirteen, Privet Drive. He looked at the mailbox. In faded paint on the metal, he sadly read the name _Black_. Number Thirteen, Privet Drive, was currently under the ownership of a Mr. Potter, him being the heir to a Mr. Sirius O. Black.

**Pallor – Fading**

Harry opened his eyes to hear Uncle Vernon shouting something. Blinking, he attempted to sit up, and found himself unable to push himself off of the floor. Uncle Vernon's voice grew closer, and Harry forced himself to comprehend the ranting for a moment.

" – Damn you boy, knew it would cause trouble but you are causing NO MORE TROUBLE! Get _off_ of your lazy ass this minute or I'll –"

Harry let his mind loose itself again. The words didn't matter. None of it mattered. What did matter? Right – _"I swear I won't use magic,"_ when had he written that? Did it matter? No, it didn't, because nobody had come to pick him up. Or was that next week? Or next month? Not that it mattered.

When he began to feel something hitting him, Harry's mind slipped further away, drifting. His mind, out of self preservation, attempted to reach for his magic, to fight off the beating that only his body felt. The tearing, searing pain, ripping his body like the Cruciatus Curse. His mind didn't feel it anymore, so what did it matter? He would go see Sirius, wouldn't he?

"Doesn't… matter –"

The words slipped from bruised and bleeding lips, but the coherency frightened Vernon Dursley more than anything ever had in his measly existence. Especially when Harry looked up at Vernon and smiled crazily, despite being held in a strangle-hold against the wall.

Harry's eyes were not sane, the green akin to something that wizards called "the Killing Curse." His right eye poured blood instead of tears, where his glasses were smashed into his face. Even around the blood, or perhaps because of it, Harry's eyes looked like the eyes of a man who has seen Death.

"Doesn't… matter… won't… use – magic…" Harry's head slumped to the side, and no amounts of beating woke him. Disgusted, Vernon Dursley tossed the frightfully thin teenager into his bedroom, and the door was slammed shut and locked. Harry's eyes slid open and shut over the next few hours, but he saw nothing.

**Effrego – Breaking**

Remus Lupin had not used certain skills in years. For instance, the last time he had climbed the wall of a house had been to give an eleven-year-old Nymphadora Tonks a present from her favorite uncle, Sirius.

It had, in fact, been Sirius who taught Remus how to climb walls, although it was James who had taught him the Muggle ways of breaking into a house unnoticed. He was surprised at how easy it was to climb the walls of the Dursley house, but spent nearly two hours breaking open the window to Harry's room.

During those tense two hours, Remus heard shouts and slams, as well as a distinct noise that he recognized all too well – that of a door being locked.

When the window finally opened inward, Remus let out a silent breath of relief. If Arabella Figgs had seen him, the Order would have been there in a flash.

Remus peeked inside. He expected he would have to explain himself to Harry before anything else happened –

Halfway through the window, Remus almost fell out again. He was not going to be speaking with Harry tonight, it seemed.

The teen was sprawled across the floor, his glasses reduced into mangled wires and glass in deep bloody grooves on his face. Remus swallowed hard. Harry was _mangled_. Biting back tears – Harry looked too much like James for comfort, and Remus was growing to love Harry in his own right as well – he flicked his wand, lifting Harry into the air. A second flick collected Harry's books and school supplies from previous years into the suitcase still half-packed on the floor. Swearing to himself that Harry would _never_ have to return to this place, Remus grasped Harry's left wrist and Apparated.

**Recro – Reviving**

When Remus and Harry appeared in the center of large front hallway, Tonks and Hermione both jumped approximately ten feet. The major difference was that Hermione regained her balance, while Tonks hit two vases and a pedestal before landing on her behind with a spectacular crash.

Hermione took one look at Harry, and let out a scream that quite drowned out the sound of Tonks' fall.

It took a little while to end the pandemonium, and then there were a few tense hours while Tonks and Remus fought to keep Harry alive. Directing Hermione like a pair of drill sergeants, Tonks and Remus finally managed to get Harry physically stable in the early hours of July tenth.

Hermione collapsed, her legs simply giving out beneath her. Lying down on the cool stone floor, she moaned.

"God," she gasped, "I feel worse than I did after the Ministry incident. Kill me, before I die."

Tonks frowned. "Hermione, you're overtired. Delirious. Let me take you to a bedroom and –"

"No."

Tonks started when Remus placed his hand over hers, and looked up at him in confusion. "She's exhausted," Tonks protested, rubbing her eyes, "She needs sleep. We all do."

Remus shook his head. "We don't dare. Tonks, go straight up the stairs and through the first crimson door. In a grey cabinet labeled _"Keep Out" _in gold letters, there is a brown bottle full of a green potion that smells like mint, even with the bottle closed. Please get it."

Tonks stood and fetched the potion, grumbling in her head the entire time. She returned to the bedroom-turned-sickroom to find Remus Transfiguring one of his shoelaces into a cup. Two other cups sat beside the third. Grimacing, Tonks tried not to think about what the other cups had begun their existence as. She tossed the potion bottle to Remus –

Who, unfairly enough, caught it. Why was everyone physically coordinated but her? She gaped as he dumped the entire contents into the air, and split the entire potion equally between the cups. While expecting Remus to pour the potion into the three cups, she was not expecting him to empty it. "What…"

Remus handed one cup to Hermione, and one to her. "It's a strengthening potion. About a fifth of that cup you're holding would keep you awake for another twenty-four hours. The amounts I have separated out will keep us awake and completely alert for approximately seventy-two more hours, after which we could function, with unpleasant side-effects. After it completely wears off, unless we have slept before that point, it will knock us out past waking for a long time. Longer for however long you have gone without sleep." Without pausing for a breath, Remus downed the potion.

Tonks glanced at Hermione and Remus, and then drank as well. Her eyes widened, feeling as if her body was being frozen at the bottom of an ocean for a moment. Then, she found she could stand and move without crying from exhaustion.

Hermione, having finished her potion while Tonks was contemplating the frozen feeling, Summoned a sofa from the downstairs with little effort, before falling into it.

"Well then," she said. "You never did explain, Professor. What exactly is a Wall of Pain?"

**Certus – Definition**

Remus sighed. "You aren't going to like all, or even most, of what you hear," he warned. "I will tell you right now, it may be that, though we might know the cause, we can still do absolutely nothing. Are you going to hear me out, now?"

Hermione and Tonks both nodded, mutely. Remus twisted his hands in his lap for a moment, and suddenly expelled a huge breath, standing up. "Don't interrupt," he said, frowning.

"The Wall of Pain is not as rare as you think. Almost every living being in the world has a Wall of Pain. I believe that muggle psychologists often chalk it up to trauma. That much, is actually rather accurate.

"A Wall of Pain does not usually cause a great deal of damage. For most people, it is merely the deep seat of our insecurities, and facing it in a normal, vocal, and physical way, as well as in a loving environment, is often all that is needed. There have been, however, times in history where wizards have found themselves in trouble like this. The one who is afflicted is so bound; outer help from the inside is needed.

"To define a Wall of Pain for someone like Harry, I would imagine it as exactly that, a wall, a wall of memories and beliefs about him that have been etched into his brain. For most witches and wizards, a Wall of Pain merely weakens them a tiny bit. As it seems to always be, unfortunately, we have a special case in Harry.

"Each year, if I am not mistaken, a greater and greater amount of Harry's magic is getting locked away behind a part of his mind. Therefore, if I am correct in my calculations, the amount of magical power Harry used in the Department of Mysteries is the same amount of power that Harry could consciously access at age five, had he known about magic.

"I'm certain you realize what this means, correct? Harry is insanely powerful. We can't determine _how_ powerful, though, because of the Wall. I'd like you to think, though. If Harry could fight Death Eaters _and Voldemort himself_ nearly to a stalemate with the magical power he could physically access at age five, imagine, exponentially, how much stronger he could be if we brought down his Wall of Pain.

"As it is, he has somehow forced all of his magic behind his Wall of Pain, probably because he was associating it with bad memories and no longer wanted to use it.

"This is the part where you can back out. To wake Harry, and begin bringing down his Wall of Pain, several things are needed. The first is rather simple – twenty, powerful, fitted-to-body shields, all around Harry. Secondly, we need to contact key people who love and are loved by Harry. Thirdly, those key people, who Harry will unconsciously call, will actually enter his mind, and help erode the Wall of Pain. Any questions?"

Tonks, who had been attempting to stand up, fell back onto the floor with a thump. Hermione stood, and helped Tonks to her feet, frowning.

"I don't think so," began Hermione, "But who do we need? You make it sound as if Harry needs more than simply three people who care about him. Where are we going to get these hypothetical people?"

Remus handed Hermione a paper and Muggle ballpoint pen. "Who are the friends that Harry trusts the most, and can _afford_ to trust the most?"

"Longbottom." Tonks spoke up, earning blank looks from both Remus and Hermione. "Seriously, isn't Neville Harry's friend? And I swear, the Longbottoms will always have hearts of pure love."

Hermione nodded. "Neville, definitely. He is one of Harry's best friends. And Ginny, if we can get a hold of her. Ron… his letters seemed to indicate that he is completely following Dumbledore now – too dangerous. Luna, absolutely, that girl does what she thinks is right, and nothing else. Fred and George, if we can contact them, they follow themselves and nobody else, except maybe Harry. Maybe Susan Bones, she was attacked recently, I heard. She saved herself and her aunt using the stuff from the DA, her connection to Harry as a student is probably pretty strong." She snapped the pen shut. "I can't think of anyone else, but seriously, why did you think of Neville, Tonks?"

Tonks turned red. "I was Professor Binns' favorite student. In the Wizarding War of 1033, Jameth Potter, Daiffyd Gryffindor, Adrianna Potter, and one Neville Longbow fought and saved the Wizarding World from someone the equal of V-Voldemort.

"They swore in blood to remain bound as friends forever. Daiffyd and Adrianna were married the year after the war, and Daiffyd took on his wife's name, Potter. Jameth's daughter Niamh married Neville Longbow. Jameth being the older brother to Adrianna, the Potter and Longbow lines were bound in that way.

"Sometime in the 1500s, the Longbow family changed their name to Longbottom, to escape murderers after the Gryffindor line. Neville is the direct heir to the Potter-Gryffindor-Longbow line, after Harry, who is now, if I am not mistaken, Lord Harry James Potter-Gryffindor-Black, Duke of The Gryffin, Earl of Pothertry, Count of Everinne.

"Plus, anyone who has talked to that kid, no matter how old he was at the time, knows that Neville has a heart of gold and a soul for magic."

"Wow." Remus grinned. "I guess we know where to look before we hit the history books." Tonks turned red, and her hair went from purple to green to blue in rapid succession.

**Adventum – Arrival**

Fred and George arrived first, dragging Ginny between them, laughing and crying simultaneously. One day later, Neville and Susan arrived, grim and readied for anything. It was late the night of July twelfth when a resounding crack outside the front door heralded the arrival of Luna Lovegood. Everyone gathered into the front hall as Hermione opened the door, and were shocked to see Luna gripping the wrist of a tall young man in Quidditch robes.

Hermione blinked. "Oliver… Oliver Wood, isn't it? Luna, why did you bring Oliver Wood?"

Luna looked surprisingly determined, rather than vague. "We need him," she said. Oliver looked absolutely befuddled, but Luna kept a firm grip on his wrist. "He is as important as the rest of us."

Hermione nodded slowly. "Right then. Everyone, follow me, Prof-Remus is going to tell us what we need to do."

Swiftly, everyone followed Hermione to the bedroom-turned-sickroom where Tonks and Remus were casting the strongest body-shields they dared. Once they finished, they looked up.

It had taken moments for the small bedroom-turned-sickroom to be filled with the group of friends. Remus looked around the room from beside Harry's bed, and clapped for everyone's attention. Nine heads turned to face him. He coughed, and began to explain exactly what a Wall of Pain was.

"… In short, what we are going to do is simple. Everyone, pull up a chair so that we are in a circle around the bed –" Chairs and stools scraped against the floor in reply.

"We are all going to clasp hands, and hold our wands at the same time. I want you to do something similar to when casting a Patronus, but not quite the same. Rather than thinking of a happy memory, I want each and every person to call up a memory that, to them, uniquely reminds them of and defines Harry Potter.

"We will almost definitely not wake all at the same time, so I want to remind everyone that a circle is important. Whoever wakes first should leave the circle, and close the gap where they sat. Those who woke first will also help those who wake later.

"We will be seeing things that are not quite memories. In short, we will be seeing combinations of memories that build the Wall. From there, we will have to see. This has not been attempted in nearly three hundred years.

"Is everyone ready?" At this, Remus clasped hands with Tonks on his right and Hermione on his left. Heads nodded; faces solemn.

"Very good. Now shut your eyes… and think… Harry James Potter."

White light flared, and the world seemed to vanish away. In the physical world, however, bugs, birds, and rats fled at the sight of the circle of love, steadily growing brighter.

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And so ends Chapter 1!

REVIEW PLEASE!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **As I am a simple person who does not own tons and tons of money, I must admit to being a plain American girl, and not JK Rowling. Therefore, I do not own Harry Potter and the connected involved characters. Oh, well...

**Canon until post-Ootp. Then my imagination takes over.**

I have decided to inform the readers - This WILL BE Harmony shipping. Ginny WILL NOT BE bashed. There WILL BE homosexuality. Remus and Tonks, despite my HATING that ship, will eventually get together. Also, although I have just stated this, it remains subject to change.

* * *

**Expiscor - Varietas /~\ Discovering - Differences**

They were standing in a place that was filled with roiling grey clouds. Every so often, red flashes cut through the grey clouds, but the grey felt more comforting than the lightning. In the distance, Remus could see a violently red wall, the source of the lightning.

"Is – _that_?" Hermione choked off whatever else she had planned on saying. Remus nodded.

"What exactly do we do, Professor?" asked Ginny, watching the sparking red wall warily. "Are we supposed to use magic? Or…"

"It's quite simple."

All heads turned to face Luna, who smiled vaguely at them. "We walk into the wall. We deal with his deepest fears. We leave."

Remus heard someone swallow hard, and felt Tonks tighten her grip on his hand. Taking a deep breath, and wondering why a red wall incited such fear, Remus led the group towards the wall. When they finally walked through it, there was a moment of agony, like the Cruciatus Curse, only worse, going on forever and yet only filling the space of a moment.

When they had arrived at the other side, Remus blinked. There was a school building, a playground, and not a cloud in the blue and sunny sky. "We're near Privet Drive. At the preschool."

Tonks nodded beside him, but Hermione let out an exasperated breath. "What do you mean? I can't see barely anything, or I couldn't until you said where we were, then everything became clearer, but it's still foggy."

Tonks stepped forward. Her hand was still tightly holding his, but she had let go of Fred or George's hand, at some point. "Why can only we see it, Remus?" She looked up at him, slight fear in her eyes. Remus frowned slightly.

"Because only we are supposed to get involved… I think. We'll have to see what happens. Remember, this is not exactly a memory, nor is it traveling in time. We can interact, but it is as unreal as taking a dip in a Pensieve. If you feel as if you can, interact with Harry."

Before Remus could continue, a small body came flying around the corner of the school building, slamming into his knees. Stumbling, Remus caught the little body before the boy could escape. The kid looked up at him with pleading green eyes, glasses broken and askew.

"Please, sir, let me go, my cousin, my cousin's gonna catch me –" The panic in those green eyes was obvious for both Remus and Tonks.

Remus held the little Harry still. "Who is your cousin? Why is he going to catch you?"

Little Harry didn't hesitate. "He'sDudleyhe'schasingmecauseI'mbadpleaseletmego!" Remus set Harry firmly on the ground, but kept his arms around the little boy.

"Why is Dudley Dursley chasing you?" That was from Tonks.

Little Harry pushed his hair out of his face in a gesture that Remus recognized well – a Potter trait. "He's chasing me 'cuz I'm different and bad and make things happen and am a bad person 'cuz I'm funny and dif'rent."

Remus felt Tonks stiffen beside him, and suddenly knew what he had to say. "Harry – yes I know your name is Harry – being different isn't necessarily a bad thing."

He tried not to stiffen when he felt Tonks put her arms around his neck. What she said, however, made him feel warm all over.

"Harry, sometimes, people are born different. Sometimes, things happen to make them different. But that doesn't make them any less of a person. Just because you have black hair and Remus here has brown hair does not make one of you better than the other, it makes you different. No matter what happens, eventually, someone will find you who loves you, even though you are not the same boring person as everyone else."

Little Harry looked up at Remus and Tonks, tears streaming down his face. "Will you come find me? Will you? 'Cuz you love dif'rent people. Please?"

Tonks and Remus were both crying, but that didn't stop them both from hugging Harry.

"Of course we will," gasped Tonks, while Remus kissed Harry on his scar.

"We definitely will come and love you, Harry," Remus tightened his hold on the little boy. "Definitely."

Through his tears, little Harry gave both of them a brilliant smile, and turned into white light in the shape of a boy. He tightened the hug for a moment, and then the entire scene exploded into white sparks.

When the white sparks faded, Tonks and Remus had vanished.

**Expiscor - Varietas /~\ Discovering - Differences 2**

Tonks and Remus opened their eyes at the same time. Remus noted dazedly that Tonks had changed from the curvaceous blonde of that morning to a slim girl with black hair.

"Wow." Tonks blinked a few times, and then looked over at Remus. He looked as dazed as she felt, but only for a moment. Like always, Remus Lupin regained complete control over himself within barely any time at all. Tonks struggled to contain her awe of the man.

"You should sleep." Remus said, his eyes reflecting something that Tonks couldn't quite make out. She forced down a flash of anger.

"Are you going to?" Her hair shifted from black to red, tumbling down her back as it lengthened.

"No. Someone has to watch. But you should at least get some sleep before the potion wears off. As it is, it will be difficult to wake from sleep, now."

Tonks' eyes glinted with anger for a moment, and she slapped Remus across the face before standing and joining Hermione's hand with Fred or George's hand.

"Idiot. Always helping everyone _else_ out, if y_ou're_ going to be a martyr, can't _I_ at least come along?"

Remus reddened slightly, and spoke as he looked away. "I'll make a deal. We both stay away until at least three of them are awake, and then we _both_ sleep. Are you alright with that?"

Tonks thought that she heard a hint of annoyance in his voice, and smiled slightly. Good, he had actually responded to her. "Yes. That is _absolutely_ fine with me."

The two of them glared at each other for a moment before both turning to watch the faintly glowing circle of friends surrounding Harry Potter.

**Expiscor - Gaudium /~\ Discovering - Happiness**

They were back in the grey mists with red lightning. Hermione looked around. "We have me, Neville, Susan, Fred, George, Oliver, Luna, and Ginny. Since Remus and Tonks disappeared, I think that we can assume that they have accomplished what they could. Given from what I gathered a few moments ago, I would say that we each have to dispel a few of Harry's fears and insecurities, and then we leave when all we can do has been done.

"Shall we go?"

Eight grim faces faced towards the threatening red wall, and eight bodies were absorbed into the red wall with a flash.

They looked around, trying to see where they were.

"A hallway –" began Fred.

"– of a Muggle school," finished George.

Hermione nodded. "Fred, George, look out for a kid who resembles Harry. He's probably around eight."

It was easy enough to find. Through one doorway, they could easily see a scrawny kid with black hair, eating lunch all alone while the other kids in the classroom were giggling and sharing with each other.

Fred and George slid into the chairs on either side of Harry, and they both bit back anger when Harry flinched away from them.

"Hey Harry!" They chorused, silently determined to cheer him up.

Harry was definitely in the age range of five to ten, but where exactly, it was difficult to say. Although they said nothing, it hurt to see him stare with wide eyes, as if unnerved by people actually talking to him.

"Why are you talking to me?" Harry asked suspiciously, "Nobody likes me, and I'm boring."

Fred shook his head, and George imitated the action. "You aren't in the least bit boring!"

Harry stared at them. "How would you know?"

Grinning, Fred and George told him that they were the Princes of Mischief, creating fun for everyone. Fred finished with "And you are our inspiration, for a great deal of it…"

"…Harry Potter, son of the greatest fun-makers ever!" completed George. They continued together, knowing what the other was going to say without any rehearsal.

"Everyone has a bit of fun inside, if you find it. Smile at someone, share your lunch, and tell a joke. Play games of make-believe, and wait to see how they answer. Believe us, Harry, there are a lot of us who believe that you are a great and fun guy."

Harry looked at them dubiously. "How can I be sure you are telling the truth?"

Fred's grin grew even wider, and he leaned towards Harry conspiratorially. "Believe me, Harry, you've pulled off better and greater pranks than we have! _And_ you genuinely care about people, and won't let anyone get really hurt. You're plenty fun, and a wonderful, loyal friend! Just believe it."

George nodded, and reached over to ruffle the small boy's hair. "Just believe it."

Fred leaned over and patted little Harry on the back. Harry looked up at them, startling them with tears. A blinding smile covered his face, and his body began to glow with white light. The entire scene blazed with white light, and everything vanished.

When the white sparks had faded, everyone had returned to the place with the grey mists and red lightning, minus Fred and George.

**Expiscor - Gaudium /~\ Discovering - Happiness 2**

Tonks jumped up the moment that Fred and George opened their eyes. Knocking her chair over, she helped them up and walked them out of the room while Remus joined Hermione's hand with Susan Bones' hand.

Tonks led the two tired pranksters into one of the many bedrooms, this one sporting two beds with moving Quidditch players on wall-posters.

"How long were we out?" Fred asked, swaying slightly.

Tonks smiled. "Everyone began about six hours ago. Remus and I woke about four hours ago, and you two were next. Remus warned me that you guys are probably wiped. Hit the sack for a couple of hours, this room used to belong to James and Sirius, so you two pranksters should feel right at home. When you wake up, return to Harry's room and see what has happened."

George collapsed onto one of the beds.

"Thanks Tonks. Remind us to give you a pair of free Extendable Ears or something…" he mumbled, practically asleep.

Fred collapsed on the other bed, neither of them bothering to do so much as get under the covers.

Grinning, Tonks yanked off their shoes, and set them in the middle of the doorway before returning to her vigil with Remus. She hoped that the two of them would wake up before the potion wore out; Remus expected that this was going to take days.

**Expiscor - Potestas /~\ Discovering - Abilities**

They were in the place of grey mist and red lightning. Hermione noticed absently that the red lightning was almost completely confined to the red wall.

This time, no discussion was needed. Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Susan, Luna, and Oliver made for the wall quickly and silently. The flash of pain –

"Where are we?" Hermione asked. They were silent, they all knew the consequences of answering. Whoever answered was almost definitely the next person up.

Susan was frowning. "I think… it looks sort of like a Common Room of some sort, but I've never been here. Um, by the colors, is this the Gryffindor Common Room?"

Hermione blinked as the shapes became more defined. "Yeah, this is the Common Room. Why are we here?"

Hermione almost had to swallow her words when Harry suddenly flung himself out of one of the chairs.

"THEY DON"T UNDERSTAND!" He was shouting, and Hermione swallowed a smile. This wasn't that long ago after all. "I'M NOT A TEACHER, I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING, MY GRADES ARE TERRIBLE, HOW DO THEY EXPECT ME TO TEACH ANYTHING? I'M ABYSMAL AT EVERYTHING!"

Susan stepped forward. "Harry?" she began hesitantly.

Harry whirled, his wand in his hand before he could think. He returned it to his robes. "Ah… Susan Bones, right?"

Susan nodded. "Harry, grades don't matter, in this case."

Harry blinked at her. "What?"

Susan took a deep breath, and began the longest speech she had ever said in front of Harry Potter in her life.

"Harry, you just said that you're not a teacher. In the ordinary sense, you're not. But you have experienced things that nobody else your age has, and you've taught yourself how to deal with it. You can help other people merely by showing them what you do know, and showing them that you, too, needed and need help with things, and that you are simply human. By simply being a human being with knowledge and power, you become an icon of strength. Don't pull that strength away from what it could grow into, just because you think badly of yourself."

She paused, and a slow smile spread over her face. "Besides, you can't be abysmal at everything, if your vocabulary is wide enough to include the word 'abysmal.'"

Harry grinned at her, his eyes glowing slightly. Grabbing her hands, he shook them firmly, dissolving into blazing white sparks.

When the light had faded, Susan was gone, and everyone had returned to the place of grey mists and red lightning.

**Expiscor - Potestas /~\ Discovering - Abilities 2**

Susan shifted, and opened her eyes to see Tonks knocking over a chair. Tonks helped her stand and move away from the group, while Remus clasped Hermione's and Ginny's hands.

Susan could barely see where they were going, and trusted Tonks to help her stay upright as they traversed the stairs slowly. "How long?" she croaked.

Tonks smiled, pushing open a door that had the words "If anyone except James or Lily comes in here, they're DEAD" burned into it.

"You've been out for about ten hours. Fred and George woke about four hours ago, before conking out in another bedroom. When you wake up, return to Harry's room." Realizing that Susan wasn't going to make it to the bed, Tonks Levitated her onto the blue bed.

Stumbling back downstairs, Tonks tripped, and whacked her head on the banister, falling down the rest of the stairs. Fumbling with her wand, Tonks swallowed hard as she tried to remember a charm that would catch her before she hit the floor when –

Someone caught her. Looking up, Tonks turned bright red, her hair flaring neon green before flashing purple and orange. That would be a tall, slim, brown-haired someone who was supposed to be keeping watch.

"R-Remus!" she gasped, stumbling as he set her on her feet. He smiled at her, but his eyes were tired. "Did something happen?"

Remus shook his head. "I heard someone trip, and came out to catch her." He smiled again, and Tonks felt her heart flip over. Dammit girl, she told herself, now is _not_ the time to moon over the gorgeous werewolf.

Attempting not to trip again, Tonks followed Remus back into Harry's room.

**Expiscor - Prosapia /~\ Discovering - Family**

The lightning was almost completely gone, now, and the grey mist was thinning a little. Taking a deep breath, the five who were left took the plunge into the wall.

Ginny blinked. "Hey, this is the Express station, London side!" Heads nodded as the place became easier to see. Ginny frowned for a moment, and then turned. "Look, there he is."

And there he was. Harry was sitting on a bench, his trunks beside him. Swiftly, Ginny walked over and sat down. "What's wrong, Harry?"

Harry looked up at her, and Ginny swallowed hard. Harry looked ill, and his eyes told tales of _agony_. "What's _wrong?_"

His voice cracked. "What's WRONG? Look. Look at them! They're so damn lucky! Hermione's got her parents, and Ginny and Ron have their wonderful, huge family! Even Neville with his grandmother and Luna with her dad! Why – why am I the only one all alone? Even Sirius – Dumbledore never let him out of 12 Grimmauld Place, and now he's dead, and it's ALL MY FAULT! I don't have anyone!"

Scowling, Ginny slapped him. "Harry! Pay attention! YOU – ARE – NOT – ALONE!"

Harry gaped at her. "What?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Harry, I love you, you are like the brother I should have had. Fred and George, my prankster brothers, they love you like an heir to their mischief. I _think_ Mum and Dad love you, I _know_ the Professor Lupin – Remus – and Tonks do, and from Heaven or wherever the dead go, your parents and Sirius are probably crying over your pictures this very minute! Build your own family, Harry, while we build ourselves around you."

Harry gazed at her, tears in his eyes. "You love me?"

Ginny put her arms around Harry. "Yes. I love you, and Fred and George and Hermione and Pr-Remus and Tonks and Luna and the millions of other friends you've made this year."

Harry smiled through his tears, and kissed Ginny on the forehead. "Then I love all you guys, too." His body turned into white light, and the scene exploded into blazing sparks. When they faded, Ginny was gone, and four teens stood in the place of the grey mists.

**Expiscor - Prosapia /~\ Discovering - Family 2**

Ginny blinked, and attempted to stand up. Her legs screamed, and she toppled over. If Tonks hadn't been standing right behind her, Ginny probably would have hit her head on the floor. She moaned.

"Tonks? Why do I hurt so much?" Tears of pain streamed down her face. Tonks lifted her wand, and Levitated Ginny, guiding her floating body out of the room and up the stairs before answering.

"You hurt because you've been sitting on that stool for fifteen hours. I'm putting you into a bedroom; I want you to sleep until you can't lie still anymore. Alright?"

Ginny didn't answer. Tonks stopped in the middle of the hallway to look at the girl, and laughed. Her red hair streaming down to brush the floor, Ginny was lying limply in the air, fast asleep.

After placing Ginny in a room that read "this room is Minny's room. Enter if you wish to become a vegetable! " in red ink, Tonks walked slowly back down to Harry's room.

Remus had already clasped Hermione and Oliver's hands, and was sitting on the sofa with a pained expression on his face.

"I hope we did right, Harry," he whispered, unaware of Tonks' presence. "God, Harry, I love you. I hope we did this right."

**Expiscor - Gravitas /~\ Discovering - Importance**

Hermione did a quick head count. Oliver, Luna, Neville, and herself. Who would be the one this time?

The wall – red icy burning pain – and they were through.

Oliver blinked. "I don't think we're in chronological order," he said.

Hermione turned to look at him. "Why?"

Oliver stepped forward. "Well, we're in the yard of a Muggle elementary school, and if I'm not mistaken, that's Harry." He pointed out a small boy curled up on the back steps of the building.

Hermione nodded. "I can't see it as clearly as you do, but if you think it is Harry, it probably is."

Oliver walked over to Harry. He looked like an underfed kid of about five or six. "Harry? You alright?"

Harry looked up, and sniffed. "'Course not. I messed everything up for my class. Everyone hates me, 'cuz we lost the game."

Oliver sat down next to Harry. "What happened?"

Harry looked up at Oliver for a moment, and frowned.

"Well, we were playin' football, and I was picked last, like always, 'cuz I'm smaller than the seven year olds –"

Oliver gaped. "Harry, how old are you?"

Harry rolled his eyes; it looked cute on his little face. "I'm ten. Obviously. Only the tens played football today. We were playing, and one of the boys hurt his foot when someone stomped on it, and I ran to help him instead of guarding the goalie. Everyone's mad, now."

Oliver studied little Harry's face. "Harry, was anyone else helping the hurt boy?"

Harry shook his head. "No. And – and – and his _bones_ were stickin' outta the bottom of his foot!" Tears began to stream down the little boy's face. Oliver pulled him into a hug.

"Harry, you did the right thing." Harry pulled away enough to stare at him.

"I did?"

Oliver nodded. "Harry, that boy would have gotten even more hurt if you didn't help him. Sometimes, people who play games forget that there are more important things than games Harry. You are more important than a game, and I know it. Friendship and lives are more important than games, Harry, and the fact that you know that makes you special."

Harry looked down. "I'm not special. I'm weak. I couldn't help everyone."

Behind those words, Oliver heard the older Harry, and what he must have been thinking after the fiasco at the Department of Mysteries. _I'm no good at this stuff, I can't lead them, I got my own godfather killed, I'm not special at all, it's all a mistake._

Oliver tugged Harry back in for another hug. "Harry, you are very special. It takes a strong person to try to help someone when nobody else is. Never put yourself down for that."

Harry rubbed his face into Oliver's shirt. "Thanks, Oliver." His voice was older, and it sounded more like the Harry that Oliver knew from Quidditch at Hogwarts. Before Oliver could look and see if the little boy had grown, Harry's body burst into white light, and the entire place dissolved into blazing white light.

When the light faded, Hermione, Luna, and Neville were in the place of the grey mists. The lightning was gone, even from the wall.

**Expiscor - Gravitas /~\ Discovering - Importance 2**

Tonks was fading. She knew it, but she wouldn't admit it. If Remus was going to force himself awake, then she was going to as well. She rubbed her eyes. Sixty-eight hours since the potion and counting. The door slipped open, behind her, and she turned to see Fred and George walk in, looking nastily well-rested, just as Oliver Wood's eyes snapped open.

Tonks jumped to her feet and pulled out her wand, but Fred was already Levitating the exhausted young man.

"Where should I put him?" he asked. Fred was frowning slightly as he kept the already-asleep Quidditch player afloat.

Remus looked mildly amused. "Put him in the room that says "this room belongs to Charles Potter."

Tonks swayed on her feet. Remus smiled, and added, "When you return, Tonks and I shall go off and rest some. Wake us when there are only two people still in the trance."

The world faded away as George asked why, and Remus chuckled and answered something about over-exhaustion and wards, and Tonks slipped away from her body for a moment, tilting over.

She opened her eyes to see Remus' face _very_ close. Too close! But she was too tired, and couldn't reply when he smiled at her and said, "Good night, Nym."

As she fell into true sleep, Tonks wondered why the fact that Remus Lupin had not called her Tonks, but rather, "Nym," had felt so bloody wonderful.

**Expiscor - Verum /~\ Discovering - Truth**

Hermione, Neville, and Luna walked through the wall, and for a moment, they were silent. Then, Luna spoke up dreamily.

"You know," she said, "I believe that we are at Hogwarts, in the dungeons. See, there's Harry."

Hermione and Neville looked at her for a moment, and then they both nodded.

"Are you going to talk to him?" asked Hermione, holding back frustration. Why couldn't Luna be _serious_ right now?

Luna smiled at her. "I don't need to go anywhere. Harry's coming here."

Sure enough, Harry walked right up to Luna, his hand on the wall. Hermione blushed.

"Sorry, Luna," she muttered.

Luna smiled vaguely. "It's alright."

Up until about three feet from Luna, Harry had a look of concentration on his face. Suddenly, he stopped, and scowled.

"I heard it!" he said furiously, "I know I heard it, no matter what anyone says!"

Luna smiled, and took Harry's hand. "Heard what?" Harry's scowl grew darker.

"The voice! The hissing voice, but Hermione and Ron don't hear it, nobody knows it's there, and it _has_ to be, I'm not going crazy!" Harry looked at his feet. "Why can't people just believe me?"

Luna smiled sadly. "Harry, I'm going to tell you something. I hear them too."

Harry gaped at Luna. "You do? For true?"

Luna smiled slightly, but there were tears in her eyes.

"Yes, Harry, I hear snakes. I can't speak it, but I can understand it. I'll tell you something about truth, though, if you want to hear."

Harry nodded, almost eagerly.

Luna sat on the floor, her robes pooling around her. "I see things that nobody else sees, Harry, and hear things nobody else hears. So people call me crazy. But I'll tell you something. What I see as the truth is not the same as what other people see as the truth, because there are two types of truth.

"There is the type of truth that is not negotiable, like what color the sky is on a clear and sunny day. Then there is the type of truth that comes from here."

She reached over to the twelve-year-old Harry and touched his chest. "The truth from the heart may not be something everyone agrees to, Harry. But if you, in your heart, know it's true – you know? – it doesn't matter."

Harry smiled, and hugged Luna. "Thanks," he whispered. His body blazed. Hermione and Neville shielded their eyes, and Luna faded from their view as the white light blinded them and they returned to the place of the grey mists.

**Expiscor - Verum /~\ Discovering - Truth 2**

"Professor…"

"…Professor!"

"…Professor Lupin!"

"…PROFESSOR LUPIN WAKE UP!"

Remus jerked out of the heavy folds of sleep, and looked up to see Fred or George Weasley standing next to him, looking panicked.

"Yes? And call me Remus." Remus was proud that he had managed not to kill the boy. He was _tired_.

"Professor – Remus – Luna came out of it about an hour ago, woke up enough to stumble over to that room that says 'Property of Juliette Potter,' and collapsed. You've slept for twelve hours."

Remus sat up, and rubbed his neck.

"Uhm. Pro-Remus? Could you tell me why some of us took longer in the trance than others?" The other Weasley twin had entered the room, looking cautious.

Remus stood, swayed for a moment, and regained his balance. "Yes. Time inside of the mind moves differently. Just like you can sometimes make leaps of understanding, and other times, you have to do it the hard way."

The Weasley twin who had woken him smiled weakly. "We _never_ do things the hard way, Remus."

The Weasley twin who hadn't woken him handed Remus his wand. "Could you wake Tonks? I've been trying for an hour, and I can't."

Remus sighed, and walked across the hall into the room titled "Don't you DARE come in. Mine ~ Alysse Potter." Sprawled across the bed, Tonks was sleeping with her hair purple and spikey. Remus turned to Fred and George.

"Don't _ever_ do this. It is not safe in the least." He pointed his wand at Tonks. "Ennervate."

Tonks' eyes slid open, and then shut again. Remus scowled. "Ennervate." Tonks' eyes slid open for a moment, long enough for a jet of red light to hit her squarely in the chest. She collapsed.

"Ennervate."

Tonks' eyes snapped open, and she jumped off of the bed, before falling painfully on her side. "Damn. What the HELL was that, Remus?"

"Luna's up. When Neville or Hermione come out of it, you _know _that the wards are going to start failing. We need to be in there."

The sound of someone falling over a chair made everyone freeze. Slowly, Remus turned towards the door.

"Fred, George, Tonks? Wake _everyone_. This may be their only chance to watch something like this, if only because it may blow us all up."

Then everyone took off at a run.

**Expiscor - Fides /~\ Discovering - Belief**

When Neville and Hermione arrived in the place of grey mists again, they didn't even pause before plunging themselves into the wall again. Absently, through the pain, Hermione noticed that the mists were fading more each time.

When the pain faded, Neville spoke before she could ask.

"I've never been here," he said, "But I believe that this is Number Four, Privet Drive."

The scene sharpened. Hermione nodded. "It is. Good luck, Neville."

Neville strode forward, and paced around the house, Hermione a few feet behind him. Near the garden, he stopped, hearing the sound of a small child crying. Striding forward, he stopped at the sight of a scrawny dark-haired toddler collapsed on the grass, crying hysterically next to an overturned bucket.

Neville knelt next to the tiny Harry. "Harry?"

Harry looked up, tears in his eyes. "Dabucketfellover and aunttuniasgonnabe MAD cuzIneeda WATER daplantsshesez."

Neville looked at him, and lifted the bucket. He walked over to the hose, filled the bucket, and returned it to Harry, who watched with wide eyes. When Harry had finished watering the garden, he hurled himself into Neville's arms, and burst into tears.

"I can' – and and and andandand I'm ne'ergonnabe –goodasDUDLEYorsummunELSE! ButIdon'wannabeGOODIwannabeNICE…"

Harry continued in that vein for a little while before Neville kissed his forehead. "Harry, can I tell you a story?"

Harry nodded. Neville took a deep breath, and began.

"Once, there was a boy who wasn't good at much of anything. His entire family worried about him, because he couldn't do anything useful. He grew up, and went to a faraway big-kids school, where he met a boy named Harry. Slowly, he became friends with Harry. Lots of kids liked Harry, because he was famous, but this boy liked Harry because Harry didn't care that this boy couldn't do anything.

"Then, one day, Harry began teaching other kids how to do important things, and the boys discovered something – he could do stuff, important stuff. Soon, he and Harry were great friends. Harry taught the boy how to be strong, brave, and smart, and the boy learned until he could teach Harry a few things.

"Today, it may seem like everything is too hard, I know that it feels like that sometimes. But don't give up. I'm here for you, and so are lots of other people. And someday, you'll be able to do things, too."

Harry looked up at Neville, and smiled brilliantly through his damp eyelashes. His body blazed, and the world vanished from view. When Neville opened his eyes, he attempted to stand, and tripped over his stool.

**Expiscor - Fides /~\ Discovering - Belief 2**

Remus made it into the room only a few moments before Tonks did, and they both had to fly, to get there before Fred and George.

Remus leaned over to Hermione, whose hands were sitting in her lap, and closed them around Harry's hands. For a moment, everyone watched in silence. Then, the wards that Remus and Tonks had built began to shiver, becoming visible.

First around Harry's hands, and then around his entire body, everyone could see veils of blue light rippling, fighting something.

Hermione was blazing with white light, and Remus swallowed hard when he saw how much of the light Hermione was producing was fighting with the wards. From inside the wards, Harry's body began to glow with the same white light as Hermione. Around their hands, the wards bulged, trying to contain the uncontainable.

Tonks bit her lip, her hair flashing from one color to the next, and reached out for Remus' hand. Absently, he took her hand, holding it tightly.

The light around Hermione blazed once, blinding everyone, and went out. Her eyes snapped open.

**Expiscor - Diligo /~\ Discovering - Love**

Hermione looked around. She was in someone's house, but she did not recognize it at all. It was nice, cozy sort of house, with a front hall leading from the door to the family room. Curious, Hermione entered the family room.

Sitting in a crib, a small dark-haired baby watched everything sleepily. A table was pushed up against the back of a long couch facing the fire. Two people, a man and a woman, were deep in the midst of a game of Muggle chess at that table.

For a moment, Hermione was startled. Was that man – Harry? But Harry wasn't that old yet, so it couldn't be. At that moment, the man moved a pawn and grinned, tilting his chair back and giving Hermione a good look at his face. No, it wasn't Harry; this man had brown eyes, and no scar. But… Hermione gasped. That would make this man –

"James, that was a _bad_ move. I thought Remus taught you how to play!" The woman laughed slightly, and moved her bishop, taking out one of James' knights. She tilted her head, pulling pins from her red-gold hair and letting it spill down her back. James gave the woman the very lopsided grin that Harry so often sported when happy, and moved another pawn.

"He did teach me, Lils, but I'm not used to pieces that don't move." James raked his hair with his left hand, leaving his right hand on the table. Lily moved her queen, and took his hand.

"James… a wager for the game?"

Hermione watched as they linked their hands. Why was she here? She doubted Harry even remembered this, so what was the point of her watching Harry's parents romance each other?

"It's a wager then."

Hermione looked back at them, wondering they had wagered. James was laughing quietly at Lily, and they both looked incredibly happy.

"If you ask me," James said, "I think that I win, either way. But in any case, check."

Lily looked surprised for a moment, and then tilted back her head again and laughed as well, her hair brushing the floor. "So Remus did teach you how to play. Checkmate."

Hermione watched, a flush heating her cheeks, as the wager became disturbingly evident. When James and Lily tumbled over the side of the couch, Hermione rubbed her eyes and went to stare at the baby Harry, rather than watch his parents be embarrassing.

A moment later, Harry suddenly sat up, his eyes growing wide. Hermione shivered, it felt like a wave of cold water had washed over the whole house. Either James or Lily yelped, and suddenly, James was around the couch, shirtless, his hair standing up at all angles, glasses cock-eyed, wand out.

"James?" Lily stood, her eyes wide and matching her son's eyes. "What happened?" She pulled out her wand.

"The wards," James said. His eyes were bright with unshed tears. "Damn, poor Remus, everyone doubting him, when the whole time it was _PETER_." He spat out his former friend's name like a curse.

Lily ran to the crib and lifted Harry out. "James, it was Peter?"

James nodded grimly. "Peter-damn-him-that-rat-Pettigrew. _He_ was the spy!"

There was flash, and a bang as the front door was smashed in. "Lily, RUN!" James cried, his eyes flashing.

Lily shook her head. "No, James, I'll stay with you, if you stay alone, you'll die!"

"Lily, take Harry and GO. Save him, I'll just hold them off for a moment, and then I'll join you! GO!"

Hermione followed Lily as she ran from the room into what seemed to be the nursery, tears streaming down her face. Both of them froze, Lily in fear and Hermione in confusion, when a high, cold voice rose above the others.

"Kill the blood traitor."

Lily screamed, tears streaming down her face. Fumbling, she pushed open the bedroom closet, and began fumbling with a trapdoor. Green light flashed, more than once. Hermione smelled smoke, and the bedroom door blasted open.

Lily held her baby close, tears streaming down her face.

"Move, girl." Voldemort was _right there_. Hermione was shuddering. This was worse than the Department of Mysteries. And she couldn't do _anything_, it had already happened!

"No." Lily curved her body protectively around Harry's body. "You'll have to kill me first."

Voldemort scowled. "Move, Mudblood, and you'll live. Give the baby to me." His eyes flared red. "_Imperio_."

Lily's green eyes flared just as brightly. Hermione was shocked to realize that both Lily and Harry had eyes the color of the Killing Curse. "No."

Voldemort hissed. "What do you mean, 'no'? _Imperio!_ Hand me the boy!"

Lily's entire body was shaking, and her face was shining from her tears. "I said – I said NO!"

Voldemort laughed. "Stupid girl. You could have lived. _Avada Kedavra._"

Hermione fought to somehow stop it, but she couldn't move. She wanted to scream, and instead, gaped. Lily was smiling.

"I love you, Harry."

The green light flared, and faded. Absently, Hermione noted that the place where Lily had been struck had a lightning bolt scar. But then Voldemort laughed again, a high, cold sound that made Hermione want to die. "Stupid girl. You could have lived. _Avada Kedavra_." A jet of green light flashed towards Harry, and suddenly, Hermione could move.

Without a thought, without a plan, Hermione hurled herself in front of the curse. Her entire body arced with agony for a split moment, and suddenly, the pain stopped.

She looked up to see Voldemort glaring at her. "Who are you? You're not even real!" He turned away from her, and Hermione was filled with fear as she realized she couldn't move, she was as stiff as a corpse!

"Finally! _Avada Kedavra!_" Voldemort shot the deadly green light towards Harry, an expression of grim satisfaction on his face. Baby Harry looked up, and the jet hit him in the exact center of his forehead.

For a moment, it was as if the world stopped. A green mist flared suddenly around Harry, and green light blazed from his eyes, twisting and twining around his baby-arms for a second. Then, all of the light roared forward, creating a rope of green light between Harry and Voldemort.

On Harry's side of the rope of light, it flared crimson, while Voldemort's side flared silver. The rope exploded, and the house went up in flames. Hermione gasped, and the world vanished away.

**Expiscor - Vita /~\ Discovering - Life**

Hermione opened her eyes to ash. She was sitting in the remains of a house, a baby at her side. Memory of what had happened roared through her head. Letting out a small moan, she leaned over and picked up the baby Harry, holding him tightly in her arms.

A sound startled Hermione out of her shock, and she looked up to see Hagrid exiting the Knight Bus. She swallowed hard, and tightened her grip on Harry. She knew what would happen next. Hagrid was going to take Harry to Dumbledore, and the Dursleys.

"Scuze me. I'm ta take lil Harry to Dumbldore, miss." Hermione simply tightened her grip on Harry.

Hagrid frowned. "I'm sorry, but its Dumbledore's orders." Hermione shook her head.

A new sound interrupted their argument, a motorcycle. Hermione turned her head slightly, to see a young man driving a motorcycle at top speed. With a sharp stop, the man flipped over the handlebars with the ease of practice, and stopped dead.

"No… It can't be! It has to be wrong!" The young man was shaking, and suddenly, Hermione recognized him

"Sirius?"

Sirius looked at Hermione, tears glinting in his eyes. "It can't be," he cried. "Not James and Lily. _Anyone_ but James and Lily." He fell to his knees, shaking.

A flash of inspiration struck. It hadn't happened this way in real life, but maybe this is what she had been brought to this memory for.

Standing, Hermione walked over to Sirius, and helped him to his feet. "Here."

Sirius looked at her confusedly. "What?"

Hermione pushed Harry into Sirius' unresisting arms. "Go find Remus, make up with him, tell him that James and Lily knew it wasn't him, and bring Harry up together. It's either you and Remus or Dumbledore and the Dursleys."

Sirius hugged Harry to his chest, and kissed Hermione's cheek. "You're sweet. Thank you so much, for giving me a chance to save Harry." Still holding Harry like a precious gift, Sirius got back onto his motorcycle, and drove away.

For a moment, Hermione felt warmth surround her body, and then the world turned white and blazed.

When the spots had vanished from her eyes, she was startled to find herself standing in the middle of an empty grey plain. The mists were gone, but so was the wall. In the center of the plain, Hermione could see a red pillar, and sprinted towards it.

The pillar was made from the red lightning, and Hermione could see that it would be painful to touch it. And then, she something that threw all of her fear to the winds. Trapped inside of the red pillar was Harry.

Suddenly furious that his own mind could trap him like this, Hermione ran up to the pillar, and pushed with her hands.

It was agony, pain worse than the Cruciatus Curse, worse than having every bone broken, worse than being burned –

Hermione pressed her face against the pillar – her entire body was pressed against it. Light flared, her mind whirled, agony seared through her body –

Memories that weren't hers raced through her mind, memories of agony and torture and self-hatred and self-destruction and hunger and disbelief and _yearning_ –

And she was hugging Harry, holding him up –

White light flared, brighter than any other time, her eyes burned –

And she fell away from her stool, onto the floor of the bedroom.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** As I am a simple person who does not own tons and tons of money, I must admit to being a plain American girl, and not JK Rowling. Therefore, I do not own Harry Potter and the connected involved characters. Oh, well...

**Canon until post-Ootp. Then my imagination takes over.**

* * *

**Sumo - Vita /~\ Choosing - Life**

Tonks darted forward to help Hermione up, and Remus pulled them both back, away from Harry.

"Does everyone know how to cast a simple body-shield?" Remus asked. He looked around, making eye contact with each person. Everyone had been woken.

Ginny shifted slightly. "I can't."

Remus nodded, and beckoned to her. "Stand in front of me, and let my shields cover the both of us."

Tonks watched in awe as Remus did something she had thought impossible. She hadn't realized you _could_ use personal shields to cover more than one person. God, why couldn't she stop obsessing over someone so perfect?

"Watch." Remus tilted his chin to point at Harry. Every head in the room turned to watch.

The shields were completely visible, now, as a blue light. They bulged over Harry's body, fighting the white light forcing itself from Harry's body. Tonks flinched as the first of the shields gave way.

The shields rippled, stretching as high from Harry's body as they could. Three more shields exploded, followed by five more. There were now eleven shields on Harry's body. Remus was sweating, Tonks could see from where she was standing.

Four shields turned red, and exploded in all their pyrotechnic glory, a sight that Fred and George would have enjoyed, if not for the reason.

Seven shields.

Harry was shaking, his back arched. Tonks was barely conscious of the fact that Remus was physically holding Ginny back from Harry, or that Fred, George, and Luna were all pinning Hermione to the couch, to keep her from Harry.

Harry let out a hoarse yell, and his eyes flipped open, arching his back. Tonks swallowed hard. Harry looked mad. Insane. His eyes were green like the Killing Curse, and his right eye was filled with blood. His eyes rolled up in his head, and Harry collapsed against the bed again. White light flared, blazing through three shields, which turned green before blasting outwards.

Four shields.

Hermione was sobbing, Ginny was gasping, Fred and George were both hanging onto Hermione limply, Oliver looked stunned, Luna had tears streaming down her face, Neville was gripping the couch so tightly that his knuckles were white, Susan was paler than clean ice, and Remus was shaking. Tonks felt as if pain and fury were ripping her body apart. The shields bulged, stretched –

And broke.

Two shields.

There was a low whine, something nobody would have really noticed, if it hadn't been so _silent_. All that broke the silence was the sound of Hermione's sobs and the slow, steady breathing of ten people, Harry's breathing unheard.

The whine grew, becoming louder and louder, until it tore into their eardrums like a scream. The upper of the two remaining shields was stretched to a full five foot radius around Harry for five long seconds.

It broke.

The whine stopped, creating an agony of a different sort, as the silence became much, much too loud –

The final shield constricted, as if there was a vacuum of power inside of the shield. Tonks watched, trying to remember how to breathe, when suddenly, Harry levitated off of the bed, and screamed –

_And screamed_

**_And screamed_**

**_AND SCREAMED_**

For an eternity of a moment, Harry **_SCREAMED_–**

The world stopped.

The final shield slammed outwards, throwing all ten of the watchers into the walls and furniture, destroying their shields like they were made of paper, giving every person in the room a brief moment when they felt everything that Harry felt –

The world exploded with white light, burning away sight as easily as darkness did.

**Elector - Vita /~\ Chosen - Life**

Tonks opened her eyes to see a blurry face in front of her own. "Who?" She croaked, feeling as if a ton of bricks had fallen on her head.

"It's Remus." Somehow, those words reassured Tonks more than they should. "You alright, Nym?"

Tonks nodded, and sat up with Remus' help. Suddenly, a question came to her. "When did you start calling me 'Nym'?"

She still couldn't see well enough to tell whether or not he was really blushing. Probably not, Remus was too self-assured to do something like blush. "Sirius used to have a cousin I played with, a while back. He called her Nymphie, or Tonksie. I used to call her Nym."

Tonks felt more stunned than ever. "_You_ were that friend of Sirius' that Mum said used to play with me?"

"Yes."

Tonks paused for a moment, both to let that revelation sink in, and to let her eyesight clear, and then shifted slightly into a more comfortable position.

"How is everyone?" she asked. No use in putting off the question. Most of her focus had returned, and if she could be of help…

Remus smiled a little. "Better than I had hoped. Luna collapsed, and spent a couple of hours talking to thin air, Hermione is hysterically depressed, and Neville has a mind-blowing headache."

Tonks resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "And you?"

Remus sighed. "I was knocked out for a couple of hours from the backlash of the wards fading, but you were out the longest."

Tonks stood up, swayed, and reluctantly accepted his help to the doorway. "Why?"

Remus let out a heavy sigh. "I believe it is because you made two-thirds of the wards, even though I was perfectly happy to make half. Backlash."

Tonks moaned as her head began to pound. "Right. Remind me _never_ to be so stupid again, 'kay Remus?"

Remus laughed, Tonks found herself hating – hating that _anybody's_ amusement could be so darn _sexy_. "Oh, I'll remember."

**Recidivus – Returning**

Harry's head hurt. It felt as if hippogriffs had been stomping through it. He'd had the most wonderful dreams, nightmares that brought people he cared about and had them make him happy. It would be wonderful if he could be with everyone, right now.

He opened his eyes, and saw nothing. Well, not quite nothing, he could see the vaguest of blurred colors, as if someone had turned real life into a watercolor-painting.

"Harry?" Somebody was there, near him, near enough to touch. Funny, Harry hadn't thought his sight was quite _this_ bad, even without his glasses. He knew that voice, though…

"Professor Lupin?"

A sigh. "Call me Remus, Harry, I'm not your teacher anymore, and I _am_ hopefully your friend."

Harry attempted to nod. "Um… what are you doing here? Assuming I actually know where _here_ is? And why am I practically blind and my head _hurts_."

Another sigh. "We are at a place that goes by the curious name of Potter Manor. I don't think I could begin to imagine why that could be. Perhaps because it has been in the hands of the Potter family for at least the last five hundred years explains some of it. And perhaps we are here because this house and the surrounding lands not only belong to you, Harry, but are also better protected than even Hogwarts. That should explain a little of why we are invading a place that rightfully is your home."

Harry felt a wave of anger rush through his body. "I own a _house_? Please explain to me why nobody informed me of this."

Even without vision, Harry had the feeling that Remus was shifting slightly in his seat. "To be frank, Harry, I used to come here often. Something happened, when your parents died, I believe. Dumbledore did something to keep me from taking you from the Dursleys. I truthfully don't remember what it was he did, and believe I may have been Obliviated. At the same time, he apparently did something that made me forget about the fact that you own an _insanely_ highly protected house, protected to the point that any 'blood wards' would be outweighed."

Harry frowned, but waves of anger were rushing through his body. _Dumbledore_ did something to Remus, something that made him betray the son of his best friends? _Dumbledore_ had betrayed him, betrayed him to the point of not informing him that he had a Hogwarts-style _home_?

The sound of a door slamming open interrupted his furious thoughts. "Harry!"

Controlling the urge to blink hard, as if it would help his vision, Harry thought for a moment, getting his anger under control. "Hermione? What –"

He barely saw the brown blur, but he certainly felt the rather ungainly _thump_ as his friend hurled herself across the room onto his bed. "Um, Hermione?"

She was sobbing into his lap. "You're alright! I'm so glad; I was worried when you didn't wake up, and – oh! Everyone's here and I'm so _angry_ at Dumbledore, when you hear what he's done –" She stopped cold.

Harry couldn't see, but he didn't need to, to know that Remus was frowning at Hermione. She had obviously said more than she was meant to.

"_What_ has Dumbledore done? The truth, please."

Remus sighed. "I wasn't going to keep it from you, Harry, but I did want you a _little_ more rested. I guess there is no time like the present, though.

"Dumbledore's been stealing money from your family vaults. He's been giving to people in the Order. For some reason, even though it has always made me angry and wish that I could go tell you, I never thought about it when you were around. I suspect that Dumbledore is behind that, as well. He is an experienced Occlumens and Legilimens, and I only began learning when Sirius began teaching me, at the end of your fourth year. Oddly enough, it is from around that time that my distrust of Dumbledore began to grow. Even then, however, it was as if whenever I was around you, someone had blocked my memories of my distrust.

"In order not to lose the reasons behind my distrust, I began taking down a journal of a sorts, whenever I felt uncertain or distrustful. When Sirius died, something broke. I do believe that Dumbledore stopped putting as much effort in controlling me, possibly because he thought that, with Sirius' influence gone, I wouldn't be as distrustful."

Harry couldn't _see_ Remus' scowl, but it bled into his voice, along with a fierce anger. "He. Was. Wrong."

Harry was shaking with anger. He might not be able to see, but he could hear the pain and betrayal in Remus' voice, the hurt that the man who had seemingly done so much for the werewolf had actually done more harm than help.

_I can't believe it_, he thought furiously. _Dumbledore has the trust of so many, and he betrays it all – Remus would do anything for the unprejudiced man who gave him schooling and a job, and Dumbledore betrayed that. Hermione practically worshiped the kindly Professor who gave a Muggle-born girl the chance to learn as much as she could, and Dumbledore betrayed that. My parents trusted their teacher and leader from the Order of the Phoenix to protect them and keep me safe, and Dumbledore betrayed that. I _loved_ him, loved him like the grandfather I don't have, like the father that I so badly wanted, like the teacher and leader I thought he was, I would have done _anything_ for him, and he betrayed that. I _never_ want to let him get close to me _EVER AGAIN!

Something that Harry had never felt before roared. It was like a hurricane, inside of his body. Vaguely, he recognized it as being of the same substance as his magic, but this was _bigger_. Waves roared and crashed inside of his head. Fury exploded from Harry like a palpable force. Something inside of Harry reached out and _threw_.

Colors moved in front of Harry's extremely blurred vision, and he heard shouts and yelps. From outside the room, there was a loud shout, and then a female voice that swore just as loudly. "Damn! That's not me, I swear!"

_Is that Tonks? _Harry wondered.

"Harry." Remus' voice sounded strained. "I know you are upset, but you are Levitating everything in the room, including myself and Hermione. It is possible, considering the uproar, that you are Levitating everything in the house. Would you mind?"

Breathing deeply, Harry thought hard for a moment. There was something, almost like a muscle, that was tight, lifting something. He relaxed the muscle.

Loud thumps and more shouts signaled his success. Sighing, Harry shut his eyes. "Pr-Re- Oh, it's too hard! I'm going to sleep, now, alright?"

Remus made a sound that resembled a laugh, and answered simply.

"Sleep well, Harry. We all love you."

**Distraho – Dispersing**

Remus left Harry's room to find everyone rushing around, attempting to set things right. Hundreds of vases and other breakables had been broken, and barely anything had escaped the trip into and out of the air unscathed.

Grabbing Tonks as she walked by, he asked if she could get Ginny, Fred, and George. Tilting her head in question, she nodded and ran to find them.

When they Weasleys in question had gathered, Remus stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at them for a moment before beginning to speak.

"You do know that it can't have escaped your mother's notice that Ginny has been missing for nearly a week, correct?"

Fred and George turned white, reading all of the implications in that statement. "And what Mum knows –" "– The Order knows."

Remus nodded. "Normally, that would be quite true." Rummaging in his pockets, he found the letter that had been sitting in the bedroom Fred and George had slept in. "Read this."

Ginny snatched the letter before Fred or George could, and began to read aloud.

"_Remus – _

"_Today is July 11th, and I am writing to tell you that Mum suspects nothing. Thank you for the Time Turner, it is back on the bookcase, next to _The Life of Emmerdine Valese_. Thank you, and see you soon, I hope._

"_Ginny Weasley, Fred Weasley, George Weasley."_

Finishing the letter, Ginny looked blankly at Remus. "What does it mean?" she asked. "We were here on July 11th."

Fred and George looked from Remus to Ginny before beginning to smile. "Dear sister," began Fred, "It says _Time Turner_."

George grinned. "I believe that we didn't lie to Mum after all. We are going to test some products –"

"– Blow things up –"

"– And return to the Burrow utterly –"

"Exhausted!" they chorused.

Remus nodded. "Right then. The Time Turner is where the letter says it is, there is another letter beside it that says how many times to turn it, but I believe two turns should do it. Rather than an Hour-Turner, I believe it is a Day-Turner. Here is a Portkey –" Remus pulled a small plastic ball from his pocket. "Use it once you have written and left the letter. Good luck."

Taking the letter from them, he left the loyal Weasleys to their return home.

**Fides – Belief**

Three days later, Harry was walking around again, albeit with the help of Hermione or Neville. He wore a new pair of glasses, but his vision was still fuzzy enough that he needed someone around to help with distances.

Although Susan, Luna, and Oliver had returned to their homes, Neville had elected to stay, claiming that his grandmother didn't care if he was with friends.

At dinner on the sixteenth, a thought struck Harry. He turned to Remus and Tonks, forcing back a smile at the way they were carefully not looking at each other. "Are you two going to go to the next Order meeting?" The air tightened subtly, just enough for the five around the table to notice.

"I think," began Tonks carefully, "that we should go, if only to know what the Order is up to, and feel out other possible people for our little 'rebellion.' After all, we don't know who else could possibly have been like Remus, suspicious but forgetting their suspicions due to Occlumency and Legilimency."

The tightness in the air vanished, and Harry nodded. "I have an… idea, if you will, and it might – conflict with the Order. If it works. Oh, and is it possible to get Susan Bones and Ginny back here, at some point? And someone to teach everyone Occlumency? I don't really want some of the things they know now to be within the public grasp."

Remus frowned in thought. "Susan, yes. Ginny, doubtful. Remember, if Ginny disappears too often, we alert the Order to our actions. How badly do _you_ need to learn Occlumency, Harry?"

Harry reddened, and looked at the table. "I... kind of thought that maybe… the teacher could teach me, and I could teach everyone else?"

Tonks grinned. "Actually, Harry, that's a great idea. You know exactly how _not_ to teach it, so you'll be a great teacher at the right way to do it. I'll look into someone at the Ministry, the Unspeakables do that type of thing all the time, and they won't even tell the Aurors, if we ask and they deem it proper."

Remus' eyes widened, and looked at Tonks with an odd expression on his face. She blinked, and turned to face him. "What?"

Remus stood, shaking. "C24-53," he whispered. "Also known as Chameleon."

Tonks stood quickly, knocking her chair over. "M33-04? Also known as Marauder?"

Harry looked from one to the other, and groaned aloud. Hermione and Neville both turned to stare at Harry. "What is it, Harry?" asked Hermione.

Harry shook his head, laughing helplessly at the startled adults. "They're both… Unspeakables! And they didn't… know! Even with such… _obvious_ nicknames!" He continued to laughed, while everyone else slowly began to see the humor in the scene.

Remus bit his lip, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "I suppose it _is_ funny. I _thought_ I recognized your voice when you joined the Order, but I'd never seen your face, so…" He began to laugh.

That evening ended with laughter ringing through the ceilings of the Potter Manor.

**Exordium – Beginning**

A loud thump heralded the beginning of a new day, the morning of July 17th. That wasn't to say that Tonks didn't regularly herald the day with a thump, but this one was special – she fell down the stairs, and landed on a bewildered Harry.

Harry fumbled for his glasses, while Neville, Hermione, and Remus crowded into the hallway. "What happened?" Hermione helped Harry up, and handed him his glasses.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know, I was just walking down the hall and… Tonks!" He turned, and pointed at the blushing young Auror. "You fell on me."

Tonks tossed her hair, growing it to shoulder-length as she did. "I know. I'm sorry; I didn't _mean_ to fall down the stairs. But the Order just called for a meeting, tonight at eight."

Remus nodded. "I got the message, too." A grin spread over his face, and Harry, still fixing his glasses, thought that Remus must have worn a similar grin when pulling off a prank at Hogwarts. "But _I_ didn't fall down two flights of stairs and land on Harry Potter."

Tonks stuck out her tongue. "I didn't do it on _purpose_ – wait, are you teasing me?"

Remus ran his hand through his hair and grinned wickedly. "And enjoying every minute. Now, we should hurry and get ready if we're going to go to the Department of Mysteries and request an Occlumency teacher before the meeting."

As Remus left to prepare himself for the Ministry, Tonks turned and glared at Harry, who was stifling laughter. "Alright, _sir_, what's so funny this time?"

Biting back gasps, Harry grinned hugely. "I was just thinking that it was no wonder the Marauders got away with so much. Pro-Remus seems so _normal_, and then he turns around and – and he's as bad as Sirius was!"

"I am not!" called Remus from his room, "I'm worse!"

Harry lost his fight with his laughter, and collapsed, sitting on the floor with a thump. Tonks rolled her eyes.

"_Men_. They're all idiots."

Neville frowned. "The two of _them_ might be, but don't group me with Harry and Remus!"

Hermione and Tonks looked from the weakly laughing Harry to Neville, who was pretending to be offended. Huge grins broke over their faces, and both young women joined Harry with laughter.

**Contego Mens – Occlumency**

Remus and Tonks arrived at the Ministry dressed as Unspeakables. Swiftly, they moved as a pair, unconsciously matching stride for stride.

As always in the Ministry, people moved out of the path of the pair of Unspeakables. Tonks had always found it amusing how much people feared Unspeakables. It wasn't like they were that different from Aurors. Well, except for the fact that they answered to no one outside their department, not even the Minister. And that they were sworn in blood and by magic to _never_ break their codes of secrecy, on pain of Obliviation.

Once inside the Department of Mysteries, they were stopped by the Two Guards.

Remus lifted his wand, and drew two curving marks in the air, branching them out like antlers. "I am M33-04. The Marauder."

Tonks followed only a second behind him with a spiral shape. "I am C24-53. The Chameleon."

The Two Guards nodded, and moved aside, allowing them to pass. Remus and Tonks moved straight for the Head's Office.

After about two hours of verification, persuasion, and conversation, the Head of the Department nodded for a moment, and wrote something on a paper bird; setting it free to find the person he or she was looking for.

After another hour of waiting and conversing on innocuous subjects, the door opened to reveal a tiny Unspeakable that Tonks had seen a few times. Raising their wand, the Unspeakable jabbed it downwards, causing a handful of crimson stars to explode from the tip, along with a puff of gold mist. "M00-01, Crimson Mist."

The Head nodded. "Right. Mist, these two are –"

"C24-53, The Chameleon, born Nymphadora Anne Tonks. M33-04, The Marauder, born Remus John Lupin."

The Head nodded. "Yes. Chameleon, Marauder, Mist is the Department's best kept secret."

The tiny Unspeakable shifted, and tossed their head. "I am also the Department's favorite guinea pig. To quote Ginevra Molly Weasley, a Ginny-Pig."

Tonks and Remus stared at the Unspeakable, who growled. "My nickname – a while ago – was Ginny."

The Head sighed. "Mist, these two need an Occlumency expert. You haven't shown your face in a long time…"

The Unspeakable shifted her head in a way that hinted at an eye roll. "Considering that Occlumency is one of the few things I _can_ do, aside from _exist_, I suppose you want me to take the job."

The Head sighed again. "Please, Mist?"

Crimson Mist expelled an exasperated breath. "Fine. I'll call myself – Day, alright?"

The Head pulled down his obscuring hood, and smiled. "Thank you, Day. Hoods down. I'll leave the three of you to get to know each other."

Tonks and Remus pulled down their hoods, while Day waited until the Head had left before she pulled down her hood.

"I don't want him to realize that I'm _me_," she explained. "He doesn't know he's met me before."

Tonks held back a gasp. Day was a petite girl who didn't look a day over fourteen. She had a pale heart-shaped face, ice blue eyes, and shoulder-length white hair in soft waves. Day sat still for a moment, her eyes vague and distant, before she shook her head and glared at Tonks.

"I would appreciate you not staring. I know that most people over five hundred years old don't look like they could still go to school, but you don't need to gape."

Remus choked. He hadn't been staring, but her words rang a bell. "You're _that_ Mist? I thought it was just a title, not a person! You've been around since before the Ministry!"

Day rolled her eyes. "Yes, I've been around since before the Ministry, yes, I knew Merlin. Yes, I've been around that long. I'm cursed."

Tonks shook her head to stop herself from staring at Day again, and suddenly realized what she had said. "You're cursed?"

Day rubbed her forehead. "Triply cursed. My mother was a faery spirit. When I was born, I was given the power to naturally see what others think unless they block it. You might say that I would be insane without Occlumency. I'm cursed to never grow older until I meet my "true love," damn if it doesn't sound stupid. I'm also cursed so that stupid sorcerers and kings are always falling in love with me, and am cursed that I can see the future enough to know that I often _have_ to marry them, even if I don't like them.

"My magic is unruly and impossible, compared to most. Probably because I'm only half-human. Spells only work for me half the time, but my body is magical in its own right. Once, in all of the years of my tortured life, I had a huge crush on a person, but they were already married, so I ignored it. Men fight over me, and my presence occasionally hypnotizes women. I only have one story in my entire life that I truly like.

"I was traveling, when I met three brothers on a bridge. After seeing me, the two elder brothers began to fight over who would take me home to wed, even though they were already married. The youngest broke up the fight, and asked me for a gift for his wife before I went on my way. Awed, I gave my current wand to the eldest, because it had a certain amount of my attraction inside. It would attract death and deadly attention to the holder, which suited me fine. The middle brother received one of my teeth, see –" At those words, Day broke off to show a missing back tooth.

"The tooth would create wisps of the memory of dead people, driving the user insane. That suited me fine as well, the elder two brothers didn't care about what their wives felt, or how I felt, and merely wanted my body.

"Finally, I invited the youngest brother to bring his family to visit me in a week's time, for his gift. When he and his family arrived, I gave him a cloak woven from my hair. Surprisingly enough, it was simple magic. Once woven into a cloak, it detracted attention, rather than attraction attention. It was a better Invisibility Cloak than any I have seen since. Because there are no spells on it, it needs no spells renewed. I have often wondered what happened to that man, his wife…"

Day broke off. "Well. Enough about me. I know your backgrounds, general lives, and all of that, but I don't know why you need me. Aside from the obvious, that you both need training in Occlumency. So?"

Tonks grinned. "Remus and I need to learn, but the main student of yours is going to be Harry Potter, he's a really strong wizard."

Day stood, and nodded. "Alright then. I just hope he doesn't fall in love with me. Student-teacher relationships inevitably end in disaster. Let me get some modern clothes, I haven't left the Department since 1907, and I'll follow you to Potter Manor so that you can get to the Order of the Phoenix meeting."

Halfway out the door, Day stopped, and turned to look at them. "Harry is the one who broke in last month, right? I look forward to meeting him."

**Placitum – Meeting**

Harry looked up from his notebooks. Bored with the schoolwork that had been re-written and revised to death, even by Hermione's standards, Harry had started a project that promised to work. All he had to do was fix the shaping and stop the spells from consistently turning the metal charms green, and he would be done.

A sound like a bell rang through the room for a moment, and Harry dropped his notebooks onto the table, and ran to the door of his bedroom, stumbling over his own feet. Barely a breath behind him, Hermione growled and grabbed his hand.

"Let me _help_, Harry. I want to help, and you're never going to see if you keep smashing you glasses against things. You were prone for half a _week_, even a superhuman would be stumbling for days."

Harry shook Hermione's hand off. "Stop it! Someone's here, that teacher that Profe-Remus and Tonks were going to get, probably. Besides, it isn't my feet that I'm having trouble with. Even with my glasses, everything's foggy."

Harry walked slowly, and frowned. "This is taking too long. Hold my wrist, Hermione, I'm going to try something."

Before Hermione could inform Harry that he was _not_ going to try _anything_, the world disappeared for a moment, and all of the air was sucked out of her lungs.

Seconds passed in the blackness, and Hermione's head began to hurt. One… Two… Three…

They were in the front hall. Hermione reeled. "What did you _do_?"

Harry shrugged. "One of the books you brought from the library mentioned something about the head of the household being able to move at will from one place in the house to another. I tried it, it worked."

Hermione squeaked, trying to come up with a good retort, when she got a good look at the person who had come with Tonks and Remus.

The girl was tiny, frail-looking, and pale. Her skin had a slight bluish tinge, her eyes were the same color as an iceberg, and her hair was shoulder-length, wavy, and whiter than ice. Light seemed to break over the girl's hair, making a fuzzy glow surrounding her head. When the girl smiled, Hermione felt something angry roil in her stomach. This girl was the type of person who made other girls jealous just by existing.

"Hello," the girl said softly. Damn, her _voice_ was musical. "I'm going by the name Day, and I'm going to teach –" She stopped, gazing at Harry with as hungry look on her face. "Oh, _Merlin_," she breathed, tears beginning to fall down her face. "_You_ are Harry?"

Harry shifted nervously beneath her gaze. "Yeah."

Day shivered. "You – you look like – you _can't_ be. He died, he died, I _saw_ him die."

Hermione relaxed. This girl wasn't going to bewitch Harry, but there was still something odd about her.

Harry swayed a bit, tightening his grip on Hermione's arm. "Who do I look like?"

Day put her face in her hands. "Giddy," she mumbled. "You look like Giddy."

Remus made a strangled sound, while Tonks looked at Day curiously. "Who was Giddy?"

Day looked back up, her eyes reddening. "Giddy was – the only husband I ever had that I loved – he was like a brother to me. He – was the great-grandson of the man who received my Cloak. I _saw_ him die, I _saw_ our son die, I _saw _it!"

Remus sounded like he was choking. "Was Giddy – his nickname?"

Day flushed. "He called me Jenny and I called him Giddy. His birth-name was Godric. Oh _Merlin_, but you look like Giddy, or maybe our son, David."

Hermione glared at Remus, who was stilled choking on something. "What is it, Pro-Remus?"

Remus shook his head. "You've read this in a history book, Hermione. Genevieve de Stella married Godric Gryffindor, and had one son, Daiffyd Gryffindor. Genevieve disappeared the day after Godric died, and Daiffyd took over Hogwarts."

Tonks gaped for a moment. She knew that Day was old, but that was – a little too much information.

Suddenly, Day brightened. "I can teach you! You're my son, of a sort, so I can teach you without you getting distracted!" She frowned. "Was I supposed to teach anyone else?"

There was barely a moment's pause. "I can't teach them, Neville is almost as powerful as Harry, and he _isn't_ as closely related as Harry is. Fred and George might be a danger, too. I'll just teach Harry and have him teach them. That's what he wants, anyway."

Day smiled. "Tonks, Remus, if you meet me at the Ministry, I'll teach you two there. Harry, take me somewhere comfortable, and we'll see how much I have to do."

Hermione let out a huff of air. "Hello. My name is Hermione, and I want to know what _I_ am supposed to do while you are teaching Harry."

Day turned to Hermione, and smiled. "I'm sorry; it just isn't every day that you meet a descendant who's now older than you are. I should only need two days with Harry, if the state of his mind that I can see is any proof. If you could gather up everyone so that I could meet them before I leave?"

Still smiling, the infuriating girl-who-was-a-walking-piece-of-history left the room, dragging Harry behind her. Hermione let out another huff, when a voice spoke inside her head.

"_Harry's all yours, dear. I like girls better. You're more to my tastes than he is, and I don't like brunettes."_

Hermione's eyes widened as she absorbed what the voice had said, and _who_ it must have been.

Tonks suddenly swore. "Damn! The Order meeting is in two hours, and we're taking the Knight Bus! Come on, Remus!" Grabbing the werewolf's hand, the metamorphagus ran from the room, dragging him behind her.

Mumbling something about dinner to herself, Hermione scowled and went in search of a kitchen.

**Abolesco Phoenix – Vanished Phoenix**

Tonks shifted nervously in her seat as members of the Order gathered in Grimmauld Place. Upstairs, she could hear Ginny shouting at Ron about something, and found herself quietly hoping that Ginny would hit Ron with her Bat-Bogey Hex.

The last Order meeting had ended badly, with Remus storming out angrily. Snape had been baiting Remus again, and Remus had been purposely ignoring him, when Molly had taken the chance of the moment to ask Dumbledore for some money from Harry's vault.

That had broken it. Whatever walls that Remus had been holding up to keep from snapping at everyone had finally broken, and he had said something about stealing from Harry not being right.

Which it wasn't, Tonks thought angrily. There was something about Dumbledore that had always made it hard to argue about such things in reference to the Order members, though.

A door slammed upstairs, and Dumbledore entered the meeting room, effectively beginning the meeting.

It began with Dumbledore assigning people to search for Harry, and mentioning that Harry might not be quite sane.

At those words, Remus' head snapped up. "Of course," he said, somehow containing the fury that Tonks could feel vibrating through his frame. "His godfather only just died right in front of him less than a month ago. He's probably not quite straight, because of grief!"

Tonks put a hand on Remus' thigh, trying to will some tranquility into his body. Dumbledore just gave them both a twinkling smile.

"Calm down, Remus. We know that you are grieving." Remus shut his eyes, and Tonks shivered to _feel_ the anger melt away.

Dumbledore turned to Molly and Arthur Weasley. "I have added one thousand galleons to your account; they should help your family for a while –"

"You _what_?" Remus was standing now, his fist clenched tightly. "Albus, that money belongs to Harry!"

"Sit down, Remus." Dumbledore was frowning, now. "Calm yourself; Harry won't miss the money, and the Weasleys need it. Harry would not grudge them the money, in any case. Sit down."

Remus remained standing, and Tonks shivered. She could feel something crumbling, similar to when the wards around Harry had fallen. She waited for the breaking point, she could feel it coming –

"Yes, Lupin, do sit down. You take up more space than that mutt of yours did. This place certainly smells better with him gone." Tonks wanted to tear Snape into bite-sized pieces, and feed him to Buckbeak. Was he insane? Why was he baiting Remus?

Tonks shifted to look up at Remus, and stared. A faint misty glow had come into being around his fists, but his wand was still in his pocket.

Dumbledore stood. "Remus, sit down. I know you are grieving, but I expected better of you. Severus, please do not bait a grieving man."

Remus' eyes grew wide with anger, and he pushed away from the table entirely. Tonks shivered. It felt like a weaker version of when Harry had gotten angry the other day.

"You are _disappointed_?" Remus was practically growling, his eyes were no longer chocolate-colored, but completely amber. "You are _disappointed?_ In _me?_ I have to ask, what happened to the Order of the Phoenix I used to know? What happened to the Order that James and Lily and Sirius and I joined? Has it gone the same way as another of its former members, Peter? James and Lily gave up their _lives_, their _friends_, their _everything_, just for the sake of what Albus Dumbledore said. I trusted everything you said, I trusted even when you told me to trust people that I would never have trusted in a hundred years. I was thankful, I would have done anything. But _this_! This is stealing of the first degree, in large amounts. Stealing Harry's family, Harry's money, Harry's life, and Harry's sanity. How long can a person be abused and ignored before they go the way of Voldemort, Albus? You tell me.

"I am not staying here anymore. I am not helping these people anymore. I cannot believe that any of you have a mite of compassion, if you _are_ staying. But I shouldn't judge. If you wish to stay with someone who might kill you tomorrow, just for the sake of the 'greater good,' well, be my guest. I wish you good luck, and hope you're still alive next time I see you."

Just then, something like thunder crashed, and Fawkes appeared.

Dumbledore turned towards the phoenix in confusion, and reached out his hand. "Fawkes?"

Fawkes turned away from Dumbledore in a rather clear expression of scorn, even for an animal, and landed on Remus' shoulder for a moment. Remus started, a feeling of fire burning through his body and tearing at the fabric of the world for a moment.

When his vision cleared, Tonks was staring at him, pleading silently. Remus nodded, silently telling her that they needed a spy in the Order. Then, he Apparated, moments before the wards on Grimmauld Place exploded, and all of the members of the Order were evicted, and Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place vanished from sight.


End file.
